Our Mission
Our Mission
Our mission is simple and focused: to help educate the children of nomadic families in northeastern Samburu.
Our organization is based on a commitment to being goal-oriented, accountable, and highly effective. We establish clear objectives, put measurements in place to monitor them, and take corrective action immediately to ensure we always remain on track.
We are a predominantly volunteer-run organization that has come together to help the Samburu realize their dream of educating their children. We have minimal administrative overhead, which allows more donations to directly reach the children of Samburu. The Thorn Tree Project is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization called The Sereolipi Nomadic Education Foundation Inc.
Our mission comes from the Samburu people themselves. It is a privilege to be invited into the Samburu tribe, and we make sure that everything we do is in tune with their culture and aligned with their goals. We aim to have the smallest possible footprint in Samburu, maintaining our focus on education.
our NEWS
our NEWS
Clodagh to be Honored - via Women's Wear Daily, Aug 30th, 2016
Donna Karen with Samburu warriors and founding members Jane Newman and Clodagh at Urban Zen
How We Began
How We Began
In 1999 Jane Newman was traveling from Nairobi, Kenya to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Near the village of Sereolipi, the Landrover Jane was in broke down. The Samburu people generously took her in, hosting her with a great deal of kindness over the next few days.
Jane discovered that the Samburu had a very simple dream: they wanted more of their children to go to school but their poverty made this unattainable. The Samburu knew education would be their key to survival in the twenty-first century, and a chance to attend school would create lasting change in the lives of their children.
The following year, Jane retired from advertising and in 2001 returned to Sereolipi to stay for a month. If money was the only obstacle to basic education, Jane knew she had the power to find like-minded supporters to raise funds in the U.S. and Europe to help the Samburu. In 2002, Jane helped establish the Sereolipi Nomadic Education Trust.